China issues warning
SHANGHAI: Hong Kong is an inseparable part of China and any form of secessionism ‘‘will be crushed’’, Chinese state media said yesterday, a day after demonstrators rallied at the US consulate to ask for help in bringing democracy to the city.
The China Daily newspaper said Sunday’s rally in Hong Kong was proof foreign forces were behind the protests, and warned demonstrators should ‘‘stop trying the patience of the central government’’.
‘‘Hong Kong is an inseparable part of China — and that is the bottom line noone should challenge, not the demonstrators, not the foreign forces playing their dirty games,’’ the newspaper said in an editorial.
‘‘The demonstrations in Hong Kong are not about rights or democracy. They are a result of foreign interference,’’ it said.
‘‘Lest the central government’s restraint be misconstrued as weakness, let it be clear secessionism in any form will be crushed.’’
State news agency Xinhua said in a separate commentary that the rule of law needed to be manifested and Hong Kong could pay a larger and heavier penalty should the situation continue.
Democracy activist Joshua Wong has been released on bail, about 24 hours after he was arrested at the city’s airport on his way to Germany for allegedly breaching his bail terms.
Wong was released after a court declared the terms allowed for preplanned travel and that his arrest was unfounded.
The 22yearold activist confirmed he was free again and ready to resume his travel to Germany.
Posting on Facebook from the tarmac, he stated his goals for the trip, including advocating for a German version of the United States’ Kong Human Rights and Democracy Bill and stopping ‘‘the sale and export of weapons to the Hong Kong police’’. — Reuters/DPA